The most important priorities, including transportation, local government aid, workforce housing and broadband infrastructure were either ignored or inadequately funded.

Critics of the spending plan zeroed in on a business property tax cut that starts small, but grows exponentially in the near future.

House Republicans introduced the specifics behind their $2 billion tax cut in a Monday announcement, detailing a broad agenda that would slash income, business and sales taxes.

Some of the freshman class of legislators are making names for themselves at the legislature.

Gov. Mark Dayton wants to focus state dollars to cities on street, highway and transit needs.

Incoming House property tax committee chairman, Republican Steve Drazkowski, is one of the most outspoken conservatives in the lower chamber.

From where Gary Carlson sits, the 2013 legislative session proved to be more beneficial to the city governments for which he lobbies than he dared hope when the session began five months ago.

The Senate Tax Reform Division has passed its division report on a 5-3 party line vote. The bill reduces Minnesota’s sales tax rate to 6 percent and expands the sales tax base to more products and services.

For the past decade, Capitol debates over local government aid (LGA) to cities have amounted to a long and bloody war of attrition. But this year Minnesota’s city lobbying associations have reached an accord on LGA that’s being hailed as a rare rapprochement on an issue typically dominated by thorny regional divides.

Gov. Mark Dayton rolled out the specifics of his revised budget plan Thursday at the Capitol. And as he had intimated, the reworked budget eliminated a raft of proposed sales tax changes, including a hot-button plan to tax a range of business-to-business services.